Category — Hot Topics

Garyl Tan Jia Luo faces a $10,000 Singapore Dollar (U.S. $6,425) fine and up to three years in jail under the Singapore Computer Misues Act simply for accessing the Internet through his neighbors open WiFi port. Luo did not engage in any malicious activity.

Dale's Comment: For the reason's I've already discussed in related posts (see below), this is completely nuts! Simple, non-malicious Internet access via open WiFi ports should be universally exempt from prosecution. The universal adoption of open WiFi ports would be an ENORMOUS social good – making the Internet freely available to anyone wherever they travel around the globe. Yes, hotspot owners need to make sure they are usuing proper firewalls to safeguard against malicious behavior, but, to my mind, the legal system, hardware specifications and WiFi users should all encourage open and safe universal open WiFi. In my ideal world WiFi routers would be user configurable so that the hotspot owner can pre-set how much bandwidth he/she wishes to make available for external use. The owner could adjust such permitted use at will, eg via a slider control, or the system could automatically adjust external use rights up or down depending on the hotspot owner's current usage, the time of day, etc. Yes, I understand that this would run afoul of most current ISP terms of service contracts. But should it? Should laws be adopted to nullify this form of contractual prohibition. I argue that yes they should. With adequate technological safeguards in place, hotspot owners would be protected and ISPs would not face a sudden upsurge of system usage. Universal accessibility would spread such freeload usage around with minimal impact on any given ISP with a corresponding significantly positive social good. Among the many obvious social advantages, this would go a long way to bridging the digital-divide.

Text of Decision [.doc]Logan Airport had told Continental Airlines that it may not provide free WiFi in its Logan Airport President Club frequent-flier lounge. Logan had claimed Continental's WiFi interfered with navigational instruments and was therefore a safety concern. However, when pressed Logan Airport could not provide any evidence that WiFi networks had ever caused harm. Meanwhile Logan sold its own WiFi access service to customers at the airport.

Bottom-line: Logan's restrictions had nothing to do with safety. It wanted to retain the lucrative WiFi revenue stream to itself and its licensees. With this FCC ruling, the FCC reasserted that its "Over-the-air Reception Devices" rules preempt local restrictions.

Dale's Comment: This decision has broader implications than restriction-free WiFi services at airports. For example, if Logan had prevailed, a landlord could have asserted the right to be the exclusive WiFi provider in its building, precluding home owners or businesses, for instance, from setting up their own internal WiFi hotsposts.

Hearkening back to the days of iCrave.TV, the TV networks and studios have another imminent battle on their hands. The TVU Player (downloadable here) from TVU Networks in Shanghai, China. TVU Player allows anyone to place a broadcast signal on the Internet for view by anyone. See Review here: (WebTVHub)

He acknowledged that much of the content on the TVUPlayer belongs to others but denied being a video pirate. Users of his technology are responsible for any copyright violations, Shen said, and they are the ones who stream the TV broadcasts–though he conceded that they are able do this only through the use of his technology.

Mr. Shen also claims that his technology was intended as a demonstration of technology only and that it "can help broadcasters mine a rich new distribution platform and advertise to new customers".

Dale's Comment: Given the Chinese jurisdiction, this one may be harder for the MPAA et. al. to shut down. However, PVR Wire says that Paul Shen lives and works in Northern California. Mr. Shen may wish to talk to the folks behind iCrave TV and SportingStreams.com to see how receptive the broadcast industry will be to this kind of help!

Both Visa and Mastercard have announced that it has stopped accepting transactions from AllofMP3.com, the Moscow-based, deep-discount, comprehensive music download service. It is the second most-used music download site on the Internet. It is popular because users can purchases songs how they want, in whatever format and bitrate they want without use-limiting DRM.

Mastercard justified this action by saying they do not "tolerate the use of its network for illegal activity." AllofMP3's notes that what it does is not illegal in Russia – and so far the Russian courts have upheld this view.

"The company believes the action taken by the world’s largest payment processors is arbitrary, capricious and discriminatory because Visa and MasterCard lack the authority to adjudicate the legality of AllofMP3’s activities and its determination that the company’s activities were illegal is patently erroneous and without legal merit. AllofMP3 has not been found by any court in the world to be in violation of any law."

"It is evident that Visa and MasterCard made the decision on factors other than legal grounds since the decision was not based on an adjudicated verdict by any court in the Russian Federation or, for that matter, anywhere in the world. To disqualify AllofMP3 based on a payment processing company’s whim is irresponsible and sets a bad precedence."

AllofMP3's immediate response was to start giving away music free to all-comers. It is considering talking legal action against the credit card companies. Some reports have said that it is considering moving to an all-advertising business model.

Dale's Comment: Despite the many actions of governments and courts around the globe, this is clearly the first real nail in AllofMP3.com's coffin. The major labels should establish a virtually identical service and charge up to ten times the price AllofMP3 charges and honest users like me would flock to their service. AllofMP3.com fills a critical need for honest music purchasers – a service where songs can be purchased where the user is not restricted as to the player she wishes to play the music on nor is she limited to the number and type of devices and services she can play her music on.

I am one of the first, if not the first, TiVo Series 3 PVR owners/users in Canada. Despite its current limitations as a viable product in Canada, I set out my reasons for purchasing the S3 in this thread at Digital Home Canada forum and in this thread on the TiVoCommunity forum. Below are my initial thoughts and conclusions.

While not ready for Canadian prime time, I can certainly recommend it for bleeding-edge, tech-savvy, gadget lovers looking for the best HD PVR available – assuming you have lots of extra cash in your pockets, live reasonably close (within 40 miles) of the local HD transmission towers and don’t mind using it in manual mode until programming guide information becomes available for over-the-air (“OTA”) digital programming in Canada!

April 24, 2008 UPDATE: Global is now broadcasting in HD and can be recorded on TiVo S3s and TiVo HD’s in Hamilton, Metro Toronto and surrounding areas. Click here for details.

March 2008 UPDATE: As mentioned in my May 2007 update below, I stopped using my TiVo S3 in manual mode and started using guide data from Niagra Falls. Recently I re-did Guided Setup and my TiVo S3 now thinks I’m located in Youngstown New York with zip code (14305). As a result my TiVo S3 provides the proper guide data for all the U.S. broadcast stations I receive in Toronto and, now with the Youngstown zip code, Toronto’s City TV, and CFTO. I still record the other Canadian HD stations in manual mode – though rarely because their content is almost always just a duplicate U.S. content. I expect more Canadian stations will be added to the Youngstown line-up over time. The guide data for CBC exists too, but due to a problem with Tribune’s guide data, I still cannot use it to record from CBC other than in manual mode. See this TiVoCommunity post for details. If/when Tribune/TiVo starts providing native Toronto digital broadcast guide data I will update this post.

December 2007 UPDATE: TiVo S2 Now Available at Retail in Canada. As of December 2007, the Series 2 (non-HD) TiVos are available for sale at retail in Canada – only 9.5 years after their U.S. launch!

September 2007 UPDATE: With the recent updates, the Series 3 TiVo’s now have all the advanced functionality that the Series 2 models have, including multi-room viewing, TiVo to Go, TiVo to Comeback (ie: transferring content to and from a PC over the home network and copying to portable devices like an iPod or a Zune).

May 2007 UPDATE: For some inexplicable reason Tibune and TiVo still do not provide OTA-digital guide data for Canada. Despite dozens of emails, phone calls, forum requests etc. I have not received an answer from anyone at TiVo or Tribune or Zap2It in answer to my question when will OTA-digital guide data be available in Canada. I gave up and decided to set my TiVo with a Niagra Falls New York Zip code. I purchased a dual-tuner S2 to record my analogue and digital cable channels. This combination works well. Ht Niagra Falls guide data gives me everything I need to record U.S.-based network OTA-digital channels in Toronto. It does not have Canadian networks, but since everything I want to record on my S3 originates from the U.S. networks, this is no loss. So, I no longer use the ‘temporary’ manual recording approach that I describe below. I have a fully functional S3 in Canada without the ability to record from analogue cable any more – that’s what the new dual-tuner S2 does.

Nov 3, 2006 UPDATE: On Sunday October 22, My TiVo Series 3 died completely – wouldn’t even turn on. Working with Weaknees my replacement unit arrived on Thursday November 2. The new unit is working perfectly. Please see the warranty replacement details in the new section 14 below.

Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a new WiFi bill. Beginning on October 1, 2007, all wireless home networking equipment sold in California must come with an obvious warning (a sticker on the device itself or a screen in the software setup) about the dangers of unsecured networking. The warning must also give instructions on how to password-protect the network.

The recording industry has successfully shuttered several peer-to-peer networks of late. To what end? This recent Digg.com entry demonstrates how easy it is to find and download almost any music without DRM restrictions using a simple Google search. What's more, there is no way that I know of for such downloads to be traced by the means currently employed by the RIAA. No P2P application installations are needed, no attendant spyware, no messy port forwarding, no TPM circumvention is involved, just a simple Google search and download.

Dale's Comment: The RIAA can feel self-satisfied that it is successfully shuttering P2P Networks and ratcheting four digit settlements out of hapless P2P users unwilling or unable to fight the thousands of recent RIAA lawsuits, but until the content industries realize that they need to provide a fair way for honest users to purchase downloadable content, there will always be alternative ways for end users to pirate DRM-free content. The content industry needs to realize and accept the fact that there will always be some amount of piracy. Once it accepts this fact, it can turn its attention to providing first-rate and fair download services that meet the legitimate needs and expectations of honest people. Until they do, there's always Google, AllofMP3.com or the next new thing. Here's a terrific and topical EFF Article: The Consumer is Always Wrong: A User's Guide to DRM in Online Music.

Effective September 1, 2006, Russia implemented new legislation to crack down on illegal distribution through the internet of text, music and video in mp3 format. This has been a key condition of the United States in order for it to support Russia's entry into the 149-country global trade organization.

Dale's Comment: It's to be seen whether the law will have any bite, whether it will be enforced, and whether it will have any effect on AllofMP3.com

The often controversial John C. Dvorak makes an interesting point in his August 21 PC Magazine editorial – “The Google Ploy – A Revolution“. Google, an ardent supporter of Net Neutrality, has recently completed wiring Mountain View (it’s home city) with free municiple WiFi. The first such successfully wired city in America. Google is also wiring San Francisco. In his article, Dvorak makes the point that Google could very-well profitably monetize this free service and use it as a profitable model for city-by-city WiFi rollouts nation-wide. While perhaps not Google’s original intention, as the cable companies and telephone companies have been talking about the need for tiered services (along with tiered pricing for the likes of Google and Microsoft), if Google were to pull this off, this could result in the ultimate end-run around local telco/cable-co duopolies and, in so doing, do away with the need for net-neutrality legislation altogether. He makes a very interesting argument.

To a melody quite reminiscent of "We are the World" (hum… any copyright violations there?), the irreverent Weird Al Yankovic has come out with a new single entitled: "Don't Download this Song" and promptly makes it available for download without any DRM/TPM restrictions. Some choice lyrics:

"Cause you'll start out stealing songs, but then you're robbing liquor stores and selling crack and running over school kids with your car"

"It doesn’t matter if you’re a grandma or a seven year-old girl, they’ll treat you like the evil, hard bitten criminal scum you are."

Like DVD's CSS before it, it appears that HD-DVD and Blue-ray have, at least partially, been successfully hacked by a relatively low-tech means that has been discussed in various Internet forums for the last few weeks. Specifically, Windows' PrintScreen function was used by a scripting program to capture each frame of both an HD-DVD and a Blu-ray movie. The resulting approximately 162,000 frames were stitched together in real time to create a viewable 324 GP HD movie. No word yet on whether they were able to successfully synchronize the movie's audio with the resultant movie. Presumably, this process could be further refined to compress the resulting file to a more manageable size.

[January 1, 2007 Update:Paul Thurott mentioned on one of his late 06 or early 07 Windows Weekly podcasts that Vista has disabled the "print screen" function when HD-DVD and Blu-ray movies are played at full resolution within Vista – thus removing this hack possibility from Vista-based PCs. But, this is hardly a solution. All it takes is for one person using an XP-based PC to hack an HD title in this way and it will be circulating the globe within minutes through BitTorrent and other P2P technologies.]

In an earlier post I had noted that an open WiFi connection could act as an affirmative defense against the RIAA's IP-centric lawsuit tactics because anyone could have been using a defendant's open (ie: non-encrypted) WiFi connection to download P2P content. It appears the RIAA dropped a case on that exact basis back on January 24, 2006.

Dale's Update [Aug 4, 2006): The original reports about this case mentioned that Ms. Marson had an open WiFi and that was the basis of the dismissal. The later reports, see for instance the ars technica report, are now saying that Ms. Marson a cheerleader teacher that had hundreds of girls come to her house, anyone of which could have used her computer to download music. Some reports (eg: the register) say both defenses were used. The net result, however, still seems to be the same. When you can show evidence that someone other than the IP address owner/user had access to Internet connectivity through that IP address, that may very well be an affirmative defense – as would be the case with a computer with open WiFi. While ars technica is quite right that no judgment has yet turned on this point, it seems to me evidence of an open WiFi would be at least as compelling a defense. And who knows, the RIAA may already have dropped open-WiFi defense cases without disclosing this to the public.

In this interesting piece, Princeton Professor, Ed Fulton does an admirable job of outlining both sides of the ‘Net Neutrality debate and argues that, perhaps, leaving well-enough alone (legislation-wise), for the time being, may be the best means of meeting the objectives of ‘net neutrality advocates.

The BPI received permission from London's High Court to "serve proceedings" against AllofMP3.com. When that happens, the Russian judicial system will be obligated by international agreement to look into the matter.

The July 3rd “This Week in Tech” podcast includes (at time index 2:39) a clip of the Senator Ted Stevens, Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, explaining his [mis]understanding of the ‘Net Neutrality issue and now the Internet works. Amusingly, he blames commercial video downloading for causing his e-mail to take 5 days for delivery. Leo and his guests have an interesting discussion/debate on “Net Neutrality” for the next 25 minutes or so of the podcast. For a more entertaining, and surprisingly understandable, description of the ‘Net Neutrality issue, see this amusing AskNinja.com skit on Net Neutrality.

Boston Herald movie critic, Paul Sherman, was arrested and charged with selling over 100 “screeners”—preview copies of movies on DVD handed out to reviewers—to various pirate groups over the last few years. He was paid US$4,714 for the use of his screeners. He faces a maximum penalty of US$250,000 and three years in prison. He will be sentenced in October.Sources:ars technica | cinematical | boston.com

Alexander Eric Smith was arrested after a three-month stretch where he periodically parked in front of a coffee shop off-and-on with a laptop and used its wireless Internet connection.Sources:ars technica | Engadget | San Francisco Chronicle | techsearch | EETimes | iTnews.com.au | katu.comDale’s Comment: Still another arrest for another victimless crime. See my comments to a similar story on March 23, 2006. In this particular case, if the coffee shop wanted to ensure against external users, then they should have used password access control. Otherwise, if people make their wireless access available without protection, passers-by should be entitled to use it.

In response to recent Russian law enforcement scrutiny brought on at the behest of the the ifpi and U.S. Trade Officials (including threats that sites like AllofMP3.com could limit Russia's chances of becoming a member of the WTO), AllofMP3.com has put out a statement detailing its compliance with Russian copyright law.